Tuesday 15 September 2009

"Mistakes are the portals of discovery." (James Joyce)

A conversation last week made a light go in my head on how is important or indeed possible for us to learn from our mistakes.
Hearing someone actually telling me how they would never learn from their mistakes was a bit of a shock, but provoked a sea wave in my mind.
Maybe is just me, but I believe learning from our mistakes is the path to avoid things we know made us unhappy, angry, frustrated, ill, everything that made us suffer in the past. And this way, we would then make sure to act towards a better, happier, brighter present, and consequently future, too. And how consciously decide to ignore mistakes you've made before? Or is it done unconsciously?
I could be wrong and no matter how hard we try we will always make mistakes, the same ones over and over again because that's what we are, and that how we live, but I'd like to think we are better than that, and more intelligent, if so only to fool ourselves thinking we are doing our best to grow up, to change, to adjust, to learn.
So yeah, I will do my best to remain alert.
Keep trying not commit the same errors without loosing who I am.
Be less paranoid, not letting myself go, not take things so personally, be less jealous, express my opinions and desires more out-loud but without being in-your-face.
Just a few of a big list I have, but hard things to do. "Old habits die hard" but I hope they die, sooner or later :)


"Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from." - Al Franken

2 comments:

Mauro said...

"Hearing someone actually telling me how they would never learn from their mistakes was a bit of a shock"

A pessoa disse que se recusa a aprender com seus erros? É o que dá a entender pela maneira que a frase está escrita.

Não sei quem falou, mas se for isso mesmo, é atestado de idiotice...

Mrs think-too-much said...

Não tenho certeza se a pessoa estava brincando ou não, mas foi isso mesmo mais ou menos. Foi tipo "Você sabe que eu nunca vou aprender e vou sempre cometer os mesmos erros" :) Mas como eu disse ficou meio mal-entendido se era brincadeira ou não...